The public is mostly blaming oil companies and speculators for high gas prices, not politicians, according to a new CNN poll. Of those surveyed, 61 percent said oil companies deserved a great deal of blame, and 59 percent said the same about oil speculators. Only 25 percent said Obama administration policy deserved a great deal of blame, and 24 percent blamed the policies of Republicans in Congress.
“If you run out of the government voucher and then you run out of your own money, you’re left to scrape together charity care, go without care, die sooner,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said about the GOP plan to convert Medicare to a private insurance premium-support program. But a Washington Post fact-checker concluded that Sebelius “should be ashamed” about making such an inflammatory statement, likening it to Sarah Palin’s “death panel” claim. Sebelius also challenged the GOP claim that seniors would have the same type of plan that members of Congress currently have, saying that the federal government would not be the “generous partner” in insuring seniors that it is for federal employees. A report by the Center for Economic and Policy Research estimated that those who are 54 years old today would need to save an additional $182,000 in order to cover increased health costs if the GOP plan were to become law, Politico reported. And the Congressional Budget Office estimated that by 2030, the government would pay just 32 percent of the health care costs of seniors, compared with 70 to 75 percent if traditional Medicare stayed in place, the Washington Post reported.
“It’s just so great to be back on Fox News, a network that both pays me and shows me the questions ahead of time,” said actress Tina Fey, portraying Sarah Palin in a “Saturday Night Live” presidential debate skit last weekend. “And I just hope that tonight the lamestream media won’t twist my words by repeatin’ them verbatim.” Fey/Palin also acknowledged “that this week we finally vanquished one of the world’s great villains, and I for one am thrilled to say good riddance to Katie Couric.”
